Apparatus for administering anesthetics.



PATBNTED 'NOV. 3,1903,

' G. H. HURD.

' APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING ANESTHETIOS.

APPLICATION rmnn'oo'r. 2, 19oz.

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No. 743,409. l PATENTED NOV. a, 1903.

G. H. HURD.

APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING ANESTHETIGS.

APPLICATION rI'Lnn 00w. 2, 19oz.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHBETSSHBET 2.

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. Fatented November 3, 1903 PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE H. HURD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK M. RICHARDSON AND JOHN F. FIELD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR ADMlNlS TERlNG ANESTHETICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,409, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed October 2, 1902.

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HURD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Administering Anesthetics; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus for administering anesthetics, and is more especially adapted for the administering of nitrous-oxid gas.

My invention consists, broadly, in an apparatus for administering the anesthetic to the patient through the air-passages of the nostrils only, leaving the mouth of the patient free and in position to operate upon, as in the case of dental. surgery, and also preventing strangulation of the patientthrough swallow ing of the tongue, which often happens when anesthetics are administered through the month only or through both the mouth and the nostrils, as in the methods now practiced.

Heretofore and before my invention anesthetics have been administered by means of inhalers, which covered the month of the patient, and in some cases both the mouth and the nose were covered. Inhalers have also been used in which the nose was both covered and pinched in order to prevent any of the anesthetics from passing from the nostrils and to prevent the entrance of any air around the inhaler, inasmuch as it has been heretofore believed that the admission of air to the patient during the administering of nitrousoxid gas would prolong the time in which a patient would become under the complete influence and that this prolonging of the time and admixture of air and nitrous gas would induce asphyxia. (See Notes on Anesthetics, by A. S. Underwood, 1885, page 33, Berts Researches and Conclusions.)

By the use of my apparatus I completely obviate the above objections and attain the best possible results in operation and safety, and inasmuch as the nostrils are the natural air-passages to the lungs, and, in fact, are the only passages through which air should pass compressed anesthetic.

Serial No. 125,665. (No model.)

through to the lungs, my apparatus permits the nitrons-oxid gas or other anesthetics to reach the patient through the nostrils only, and thereby permitting the mouth to be left free for operations and examinations.

In the accompanying drawings, Figu rel is aview illustrating my invention with the parts connected and showing some of the details in section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view illustrating the construction and adaptation of my invention and also illustrat' ing the manner of using the inhaling-valve. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section illustrating the construction and operation of the inhaling-valve and the manner of connecting the gas-bag to the inhaler, so that it may be swung around and out of the way, if necessary or convenient.

Arepresents a tank or container, which may be of any suitable size, either asmall auxiliary tank, as illustrated, or it may be alarge tank,as preferred and found convenient. The tank A is provided with the usual valvesa and a and connecting nib or pipe A for charging or discharging the tank with the liquid or As contemplated in a patent of mine, No. 294,047, issued February 26, 1884, I have found it sometimes ad visable to mix certain liquid anesthetics with the nitrous-oxid gas,the mixture being proportioned according tov circumstances, and for this purpose I illustrate in Fig. 1 a compounding device D, constructed according to aforesaid patent, and show the same connected,by means of its pipe B, to the tank A and to the lower end of the elastic gas'bag C. The construction and operation of the compounding device are fully set forth in my Patent No. 294,047, above referred to, and doesnot need further description here, and hence said patent is referred to for said description. At the upper end of the gas-bag C, I have devised a connecting-tube G, said tube being provided in its side with a circular opening.

11 indicates a valve for the admission of the anesthetic and comprises a bushing H, which is secured to the hood by the externally-screw-threaded casing H The outer end of the bushing H is provided with an annular flange which is fitted in the opening of the tube G to form a swivel-joint h, as shown too in Fig. 3. The object of the swivel-jointh' is that the bag C may be swung around out of the way and can rest on the shoulder of the patient, if desired. The tube Gand bushing H have free communication with the interior of an inhaler, which fits snugly over the nose only, so as to'include the nostrils and have free communication therewith. This inhaler is constructed, preferably, as follows:

I represents the hood or body of the inhaler, which may be formed cylindrical in cross-section, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3; but this is not essential, because it is only necessary that the body or shell I shall be deep or wide enough to properly inclose the nose and be free from the mouth of a patient. (See Fig. 2.) The inner or open end I of the body or shell I is made flexible or soft, so as to easily conform to the contour of the nose and that part of the face immediately surrounding the nose, and for the same purpose portions of the free end I are cut away or shaped, as at it, to conform to the bridge of the nose, as at t', and to conform to the structure of the upper lip, as at 2", and thus fit snugly against the face. In order to hold the inhaler body or shell against the face or over the nose, I prefer to provide one or more bands J, which surround the patients head. The band or bands are secured to the body or shell as illustrated atjj', Fig. 3, but may be secured otherwise, if convenient or necessary.

K represents an air-inhaling valve, and M represents an air-exhaling valve, by means of which communication may be established between the outer air and the interior of the inhaler. For convenience and economy in construction I have located one of the valves at the closed end of the inhaler and the other approximately opposite the bushing H. (See Figs. 2 and 3, respectively.) The construction of these valves K and M is as follows, (see Fig. 3:)

M represents a casing which is provided with means for attaching it to the inhaler body or shell I, such as the screw-threaded bushing m, which engages a female thread m in the casing M and draws the said casing tightly toward the shell.

M represents an annular shoulder which forms the valve-seat, against Which a flap or disk valve N rests when the valve is closed, as shown in Fig. 3. The flap or disk valve N is loose and plays freely in the enlarged part of the casing M and is formed of a light material which is not affected by the air orgassuch, for instance, as mica or thin aluminium. The disk N is held in casing M by means of an inclined pin 0, the lower end of which forms a rest or fulcrum for the valve N to play on, and the upper end 0' limits the outward movement of the valve. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the valves K and M are so secured to the shell or body I of the inhaler that when the inhaler is in position the normal position of the flap-disks is closed.

The manner of using my invention is as follows: The inhaler being placed in position so as to cover the nose and include the nostrils of the patient, the anesthetic, such as nitrous oxid, is administered by allowing the same to flow from the tank A through pipe 13 (if a compound is used) and thence to gasbag O, from whence the gas or other anesthetic passes to the inhaler through the tube G and bushing H. The patientis requested to breathe forcibly through the nostrils only, the mouth being open or closed, as desired, and according to the operation to be performed or the convenience of the operator or patient, and in order that the operator may judge of thepatient properly breathing through the nostrils the gas need not be turned on until the patient has attained the proper breathing, and for this purpose the valves K and M come into play, allowing the patient to breathe or inhale and exhale air through them respectively. The anesthetic gas may then be turned on and the patient is in fluenced thereby without any sense of sufiocation. The continued breathing of the patient is indicated by the movement of the gas-bag O.

The exhalation from the lungs of the patient partly escapes through the valve M and partly returns to the gas-bag C, whence it comes in contact with the gas and admixture therewith to be again breathed over. The mixture is revivified by the oxygen in the gas and may be safely breathed again with pure air which enters the inhaler through valve K.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An inhalerof the type set forth comprised of a hood formed with an opening adapted to include the nose and fit the adjacent portion of the face, said hood being provided with.

automatically-operating air-inlet and air-outlet valves, and an inlet-conduit for the ad mission of an anesthetic vapor.

2. An inhaler comprising a hood provided with air-inlet and air-outlet valves, automatically operative, also an inlet-conduit independent of the said air inlet and outlet valves for the admission of an anesthetic vapor.

3. An inhaler comprising a'hood, inlet and outlet valves arranged in the said hood, an inlet independent of the first-named inlet for the admission of an anesthetic,said last-named inlet comprising a bushing provided at its outer end with an integral flange, and means for securing the said bushing to the hood.

. 4. An inhaler of the type set forth comprising a tank for an anesthetic, a compounding device in communication with the said tank, a gas-bag, provided with an apertured contracted portion, a hood, and a coupling means secured to the said hood and having its outer end arranged in the aperture of the said gasbag.

5. An inhaler comprising a hood provided with an air-exit valve, an air-inlet valve, and an inlet-valve for the anesthetic, said air-exit IOO and air-inlet valves being arranged at dia- Signed at Cleveland, in the county of Goya State of Ohio, this 15th day of Sep- IO metrically opposite points in the hood, and hoga and said inlet-valve for the anesthetic being artember, 1902. ranged at a point intermediate the same.

6. The combination with the hood, of means for simultaneously admitting an anesthetic and air into the said hood separately and an exit-valve.

GEORGE H. HURD.

Witnesses:

E. B. DONNELLY, K. O. BRADLEY. 

